Pearl of the Stars

The trees began to thin until there were none left at all. Violet dropped Cam's hand as she stared out over the collection of tiny homes that ran along a drab beach. The sand was gray and rocky, leading into a great ocean. The Sapphire Ocean had once been a deep aqua color and brimmed with life, a home to the legendary dolphins of Riverton. But now it was infested with dark quiet water that smelt deadlier than it looked. Giant scaly fish poked out of the surface, their eyes red and mutilated.

An tall middle-aged man hobbled over to them, waving his sailor's cap and baring a grin of five teeth. “What brings you to Riverton, young ones?!” His eyes roamed over me, dirtier than the dirt itself, and then flickered to rest on Cam, whose mouth was set in a forced line. They stared at each other, until the strange man finally yelped and stumbled backwards. “Traitor! What are ya doing here, boy? Get out! Out!”

Cam stepped forward, his eyes bulging more than normal. “Cam is in need of help, Mr. Jared. His little lady is being tracked... by the guard. And the castle have begun to search for her. They have realized what she is.”

Jared gaped at him, waving his hat as if to fan himself. His face was turning an ugly shade of purple as his eyebrows continued to furrow. “Even more reason why ya shouldn't be dwellin' here! Take your lady somewhere else. Riverton is already under too much stress, boy. Your father died naught but days ago. A blow, ain't it? Serves you right for dealing with the creatures!”

Cam looked wounded. “Mr. Jared does not understand the situation. The little lady is special.” Cam glanced at me wearily, as if he had said something I wasn't supposed to hear. He leaned closer to Jared, his voice dropping to a whisper. “She is the one, the pearl. The guard want her for their prince, the castle want her for their prisons. Cam wants her for the Land of Night. Do you not understand now, Mr. Jared? Little lady will set the stars aglow, she will kill the fear that haunts the creatures. The fear that haunts me.”

Jared soaked in this information, but his face only cleared a shade. “Damn the creatures! The forest is home to evil, you ought to know that much. You traitor,” he spit on the ground and turned to hobble away. “Do what you will, lad! For Riverton does not belong to you anymore. You belong to no one.”

Cam bowed his head for a few moments as Jared disappeared into a lopsided hut. He then turned to Violet, his eyes full of sadness. She stared at him, needing to know the truth. “I want answers,” was all she whispered.

He leaned towards her, his eyes staring into her own. His lips parted as if he were about to say something very important, but then his eyes flickered down to rest on her lips. Her bloody chapped lips that began to feel all too dry. His hand was suddenly on her cheek, and her heart was suddenly beating much faster than normal.

And then there was the sound of horse hooves beating across the earth. Cam cursed and looked around wildly, grasping Violet's hand as if to drag her down into the earth. But it was too late. They had no where to go. A sleek black blur raced by the edge of the trees, and then a horse leaped out from the shadows. Atop the horse was none other than Leofrick, panting and cursing up a storm. He jumped down from his foaming steed and stepped towards them. He stumbled for a moment, but caught himself before he fell. Violet sucked in a shallow breath, and quickly thanked the stars. Leo was still alive after all.

Cam's eyes were now filled with the deepest fear that Violet had ever seen. She could feel his fear, feel the dark clouds of torture within him. It made her gag and rip her arm from his grasp.

Leo stepped closer. “Violet... and Violet's friend, I swear I mean you no harm! The castle sent me to kill you, Violet, but I refuse to follow their demands this time. I will not ruin the... only chance that The Land of Night has at peace. The Waldrom believe that continuing this war will bring them to a better peace than losing. Their pride is too much. They fear that the Cosmic Guard will take you back.”

Violet dropped to her knees. It was all too much. “W-what do you mean... take me back? And what is this about the pearl?”

Cam and Leo both swore this time.

Leo stared at her. “Of course you do not know... it was for your safety. To assure that you did not go looking for your real family. Violet... your real family is the Royal Family. The King and Queen are your parents, the Prince your brother. They have been searching for you all your life, attempting to bring you and Prince Raphael together so that they may have the power to take back their throne and their castle. The Waldroms captured you as a baby, gave you to Bartha so that she might raise you as her own. She always wanted a child. When one of the guard killed Bartha that day... it was so close.”

There was a length of silence. Leo dropped to his knees beside her, tilting her chin to meet her eyes. “Prince Raphael is a wielder of the Cosmic Magic. His power is that of the ruby – he can set villages to fire, burn forests with the blink of an eye. Even turn water to smoke! You are also a wielder of this magic, Violet. You are the pearl. The Pearl of the Stars. You have the power of purity, of safety and peace. The opposite of your brother, the opposite of destruction. You have the power to drive away the fear that plagues us all.”

Violet felt incredibly dizzy by this point, but she would not allow herself to pass out, even in her recovering state. At last she understood. “How?”

The two males glanced at each other. Violet saw that Cam's eyes were back to normal, bulging only slightly now. He even looked a little hopeful. Turning to clasp her hand, he began to speak once more. “You must go to the lake of sorrow. It glistens with the souls of the lost, souls that use the lake to transfer themselves into the stars. But the lake has not escaped the fear that plagues the land. It too has blackened with shadow and smoke, trapping the souls that still have yet to find their star. You must go to this lake and purify its water, rid it of its pollution.”

She had never heard Cam speak that way before, his strange accent almost gone. It was as if he were separating himself from something that had once lived within. Violet gulped, her throat even more dry. “H-how? How do I purify it?”

“I don't know. Not even the creatures know, Violet.”

She almost smiled. It was the first time Cam had used her name.

She then turned to Leo, who seemed to be regaining control of his racing breath. He rose to his feet and began to stroke his horse as it chewed on the spindly grass. “How long will it take for the Waldrom to realize that you have disobeyed their orders?”

“They probably already know. They will use Lady Eleanor to look into her crystal ball and locate me at any time.”

Lady Eleanor... the name sounded familiar. Violet's thoughts flashed back to when she was kneeling on the floor of a room in the castle. The old man with his beard tied in a ribbon had told her that he would use Lady Eleanor to see if the news she brought them was true or false. “This Lady Eleanor... is she a threat to us?”

Leo shook his head. “No. She was a gypsy from the A'dak Desert when the Waldrom took her for their use. She does not fight, has no skill with weaponry. Her only use is to catch glimpses of truth and lie in her crystal ball.”

Violet suddenly stood, her head dizzy with the discussion they were having. She could not believe the things Leo and Cam had told her, but yet she must. There was no way they would go to such trouble to trick her with petty lies. So it was all true. The castle, the royal family, the pearl of the stars... it was no mockery. Violet was destined to be a hero.

The very thought sent a trickle of fear down her spine.